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The verdict on the G-20 meeting is in. It wasn’t delivered by the spinmeisters of the global leaders hailing their bosses’ groundbreaking accomplishments. It wasn’t delivered by the clueless journalists gravely assessing whether the summit was a win for Merkel’s message of austerity or Obama’s message of spending. The verdict was delivered by the world’s financial markets and it can best be summed up by the Edvard Munch painting: “The Scream.”

At first glance, the G-20 looked harmless. As predicted, it cost much and accomplished nothing. No decisions were taken, no minds were changed. Politicians had their pictures taken; the press hailed mushy communiques as breakthroughs and delusional protesters played silly ‘revolutionary’ games. (more…)